1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a door operator that opens and closes a side door supported on a side of a vehicle body through a hinge.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicle configured to assist in opening and closing a door with a drive unit is already available. The drive unit mounted to the vehicle of this kind is generally configured to cause an output arm to turn by driving a motor. A unit body of the drive unit is attached to a vehicle body while the output arm is connected to the door. When the motor of the drive unit is driven, the output arm turns to be able to move the door in a direction to be opened or closed with respect to the vehicle body. When the drive unit is operated while a striker and a latch are disengaged, for example, the door opened halfway obtains assistance to be opened so that the door may be opened with a small operating force. When the drive unit is operated in an opposite direction while the door is open, the door may be closed without touching it with a hand (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-320784).
Here, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-320784, it is easy to secure space for attaching the drive unit to the vehicle body at a back door of the vehicle. A side door of the vehicle is however provided at an opening through which a person gets in and out of the vehicle. Accordingly, considering the comfort of a person getting in and out of the vehicle and the interior comfort, it is difficult to secure the space for attaching the drive unit on a ceiling or floor of the vehicle. Moreover, in the drive unit described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-320784, a shaft member of the output arm (a final output shaft of the drive unit) is arranged along a direction perpendicular to an output shaft of the motor, so that a relatively large space is required to install the unit and that it is difficult to accommodate the unit inside the side door.